Before I start this story I have to give Ted credit for giving one of our Radio Facts Top 10 Urban DJs of All Time credit. He mentioned Hank Spann which sent a search query for Hank haywire on this blog. Hank was truly one of the last greats in radio.
As many of you know, I have always been a staunch advocate of local radio people working in various urban markets. I don’t talk about it much these days because I don’t feel like urban radio supports me enough on this issue. ….then something like Ted happens which makes me realize I’m on the right track.
Syndication has its place for sure but there are almost no opportunities left for morning urban jocks anymore I find that disheartening. With all due respect to the incredibly rich and famous urban radio morning kings Tom Joyner and Steve Harvey, I fear there are MANY more homeless young black jocks and former radio people other than Ted out there with no more to do than to watch Family Feud from a homeless shelter.
Let’s talk about Marketing….
I truly learned the power of online marketing when I broke the Teena Marie story on December 26, over the industry break. What can happen in an hour is mind-blowing when you market online properly. You can go from virtual obscurity to an overnight success. Success is different things to different people but it is indeed where preparation meets opportunity. Just ask Ted Williams.
Many people are out of work right now. They do the same things day in and day out to find a job. Send resumes online by clicking a copy and send button.. and the people on the receiving end do the same thing too. They hit the delete button. There is little or no marketing on the job hunter’s end that makes their resume stand out. It’s understandable on the surface, they are tired and they need a damn job. They are not thinking about marketing.
The question becomes, if a man who looks like a Dentist’s dream patient is living on the streets, a former drug addict and homeless and his only presentation of his skills is via video instead of any kind of resume, phone call or email AND he gets bombarded with GREAT job offers from major corporations.. does that get the ball rolling for those who are trying to get back on their feet to be more creative in their approach? Sure Ted is the exception to the rule… but is he? He had an inspired thought and he ran with it when the guy in the car taped him. He could have very easily walked away, never gave his audio audition and would have never been heard from again. When the odds are against us we have to realize we can still win instead of putting forth a minimal effort or giving up altogether.
The corporations that are hiring Ted Williams are free from the middlemen who are often the disconnected marketing companies, agencies etc, that urban media has complained about for decades when it comes to marketing to minorities. Marketing companies can and have actually BLOCKED the corporation from great PR and growth by their false perceptual thinking, flawed research and bullsh… concepts. Make no mistake, if Ted Williams submitted a voice over demo on his own to MOST of the major talent agencies, that represent corporations like Kraft, he would have been rejected immediately for sounding like a radio guy. Voice over agents want a natural sound and the radio guy voice is harshly taboo. Submitting a demo and sounding like a radio guy can actually get you blackballed for a year or more. Are the corporations that hire the agencies aware of this? What do THEY want? Well Kraft appears to WANT a “radio guy” for their voice overs now that they have hired Ted.
How can YOU Benefit?
It appears that thinking outside the box is getting bigger by the minute when it comes to marketing…. There is a great chance Kraft may have hired him if an agent did not reject him because he sounded like a radio guy and took a chance on him. After all if all agents are thinking the same thing and just one of them is thinking outside the box what are his odds of winning with a talent like Ted? Finally, I can guarantee you those exact SAME voice over agencies that would have rejected him flat out are standing in line to wipe his ass right now for a chance to represent him.
When corporations hire middlemen like marketing companies and talent agencies without properly doing their homework, they often screw themselves out of opportunities and the middlemen secure their positions by securing exclusive contracts with the corporation where they have veto power even if the corporation finds the talent on their own… and they do use it.
While Ted is very talented, make no mistake the companies that are hiring him are not trying to be ignored either. They see the great advantage of attaching themselves to this “feel good story” and that’s fine but do they see the advantage of hiring someone within the corporation to find these stories and these people in advance? Hopefully Ted will get some quality representation and cross his T’s and dot the I’s so that he does not end up on the streets in a year again. The story is hot and I hope he is taking full advantage of the potential long term benefit and that the attention will not overwhelm him.
Marketing online is without a doubt where the rubber meets the road. There are no middlemen, no marketing companies with flawed research and no agencies with falsely perceived notions that prevent certain people from having an opportunity like everyone else to block you unless you want them too. The consumers know what they want and it is given to them directly with nothing to block them from receiving it. Had Ted Williams walked into any office dressed as he was to find a job, security would have probably escorted him out. These types of stories make the internet a beautiful entity and one to be reckoned with to market yourself or your product.
As far as Ted Willliam’s story, the sad irony is, because of radio syndication dominating morning and afternoon slots at urban radio nationwide, there are many urban radio and music industry people out of work. The chain of being promoted which started with overnights to 7 to 12 in the evening to middays to a power shift like afternoon drive or mornings then Music Director and Program Director has been interrupted and axed over the past decade. I fear there may be many more homeless radio people out there than people realize.
Kevin Ross www.radiofacts.comformat
And let the church say “AMEN”
Thank U for this article Kevin…I’m still praying for a mircle for Urban/AC Radio and for one in Denver, CO. Syndication is killing the development of new, LOCAL talent. What will happen when TJ, SH, etc. of the world pass on? Will Urban Radio just radio just play the same 10 to 20 tracks continuiously without radio personalities? It makes you wonder…
enjoyed the read, look forward to your next post
Kevin thank you for speaking out, so many of us in this industry feel that radio has been ruin by synication and voice tracking the once overnight shift were one would earn their stripes is long gone, so how would one interested in a career in Radio get the experience I started on a daytimer.